The FEI World Championships in Herning had seasoned competitors and first-timers alike competing for their countries on the international stage. We catch up with three Australians who debuted in Denmark.
JAYDEN BROWN
Jayden Brown and WillingaPark Sky Diamond (Sir Donnerhall x Loreana, by Don Schufro) – owned by Terry and Ginette Snow, and groomed by Lillie Connelly – competed on the dressage team, completing what was only the horse’s fifth ever Grand Prix test. They scored an equal-PB of 69.674% to finish 41st overall.
Reflecting on Herning, Jayden says he couldn’t be happier with his first team experience. “Joining Lyndal, Simone and Mary, who have all done this before, was a great experience. ‘Beans’ was a star; from the moment he first walked into the stadium for training, I knew that he would be just like he is at any other show.”
Jayden says that six months ago, had he been asked about the likelihood of team selection, he would have said that he didn’t quite expect he’d have the time to get Beans fit and prepared – as the horse was new to the level and was returning to full fitness following time out due to injury. Besides the challenge of making the team, there was also the question of Beans’ one-tempi changes that had a tendency to be a little wild. “I was always quietly confident that I would get the ones organised,” says Jayden, who pulled them off cleanly in Herning. “We still have a bit more work to do, but he’s a lot more confident with them now.”
Gaining the experience of competing on an Australian team at a major championship has certainly been a great start for Willinga Park’s UK venture (Jayden is currently based in the UK with six Willinga Park horses – thanks to Terry and Ginette Snow – with the ultimate goal being the Paris 2024 Olympics), and Jayden says he’s learnt a lot. “My biggest takeaway was that Sky Diamond is more than capable of being in the mix to qualify for the Grand Prix Special at these shows. We have a lot to work on, but it’s motivating to see the other horses in the ring and see the possibilities for where we can improve in our own tests.”
DIANNE BARNES
Dianne Barnes and Cil Dara Cosmic (Cooperit x Aachen, by Argentinus) – owned and groomed by Jodie Barnes – were on Australia’s para dressage team of three at Herning, finishing 11th with 67.375% in the Grade IV Team Test and 10th with 68.439% in the Grade IV Individual Test. Reflecting on her experience at Herning, Di says that being able to represent her country internationally was an absolute honour: “It is what dreams are made of!”
It wasn’t the easiest road to Herning for the para dressage team, with a late departure and then of course travelling a horse all the way from Australia to Denmark is a challenge within itself. “It was very short notice to get prepared for the trip and not knowing what to expect, ‘Stella’ was not sure about loading onto the horse container pre-flight,” explains Di. “It was totally my fault for not preparing her for the tight, low space. I would have made sure she was prepared earlier if I had of known… sorry Stella!
“Stella is an absolute
champion in my eyes.”
“She travelled well and had a few days to recuperate and some paddock time before heading into Herning. The morning we headed in was an early start, as we went straight into arrival inspections, followed by the trot up, then a 20-minute arena familiarisation session – the only one we had, in which I wasn’t feeling very well myself, as I’d had a chest infection and lost my voice. At this stage, I wasn’t sure I would be able to ride the Team Test the next day as I had drawn third to ride (and so a very early start).
“Stella is an absolute champion in my eyes; with a short warm-up and my headset not working – Jodie very kindly yelled the test for me (Di is allowed a test caller at competitions) – I was pretty anxious as we trotted around the outside of the arena. We had one small break in the trot and overshot the last halt a bit, but I couldn’t have been more relieved that we had got through despite the challenges. Thank you Stella and Jodie for taking care of me again!
“I had a day off before the Individual Test and was feeling a bit better. Maree Tomkinson kindly helped me in the warm-up and this time we had headsets that worked – Jodie was very relieved. I felt Stella was a little tight going into the arena, as there was a lot of noise coming from the show jumping ring, but she stayed with me and I felt she gave it her all. I could not have been prouder of her.
“We missed out on a start in the Freestyle by less than 0.8%. To finish top 10 in the Grade IV at the World Championships for our first time, I was extremely happy with that. A massive thank you to everyone that made this dream come true; thank you to our EA staff who supported us in every way over there and helped with anything that was needed. This little Aussie had a blast!”
Dianne is a very seasoned competitor with a wealth of experience, however, Herning was still her first major international championship. She says the main thing she learnt was the importance of travelling much earlier. “I think it’s important to give your horse time to acclimatise to the weather, and the different feed and hay, and to give them time to recover from the long plane flight and the very long hours of traveling in trucks. It also gives the horse a chance at more arena familiarisation time. The list goes on; it is a very steep learning curve. Despite all this, we made it through and gave it our best shot.”
At time of writing, Dianne and Jodie had just made it back to Australia, with Stella remaining in Germany for two weeks of pre-flight quarantine. “It was the hardest thing to leave Stella behind. She flies back to Australia and then has another two weeks quarantine here. One month without her will be extremely hard.
“She is 17 now and Jodie brought her as a three-year-old; nearly eight years ago she had colic surgery, then continued her career to compete Grand Prix. She has had embryo transfer twins who are rising two, a filly and a gelding, and then Jodie gave me the gift of competing her as my para horse. How lucky am I?
“If Stella and I were younger I would probably keep training with hopes of Paris, but she has been our unicorn and deserves her retirement. She will always be number one and stay in work, although on the trails or down the beach and showing her babies the ropes of a ridden horse. I am lucky enough to be able to keep riding her with Jodie’s blessing. That is the story of the amazing gift from Jodie to allow me a journey of a lifetime on her unicorn, with Jodie beside me all the way.”
I think everyone who saw the beautiful Stella compete probably wanted to steal her, and while Di says that everyone deserves one Cil Dara Cosmic in their life, there is no doubt the mare will be living out her days with the Barnes family!
GINGER KENNETT
At just 19, vaulter Ginger Kennett was competing at her first international senior championship in Herning. She says she felt elated to have been in a championship environment amongst the best of the best across the disciplines, and she really enjoyed being part of the Australian team.
“It was great to have the support of the whole Australian team during my transition into senior competition. There was a vast amount of experience amongst all the people surrounding me, especially my Chef d’Equipe, Tristyn Lowe. She was very in tune with the intricacies of competition at this level and I was so appreciative of all her valuable input and support to me personally,” says Ginger. The NSW local scored well throughout the competition, achieving 6.728 in the Compulsory Test, 6.544 in the Technical Test and 6.926 in the Freestyle Test for a total score of 6.781, a result that saw her finish 27th among the best in the world.
Of course, vaulting is not just about the vaulter; it’s somewhat of a team sport that’s also impacted by the horse and the lunger. For Australian vaulters heading overseas, horses and lungers are often sourced abroad as the local sport simply doesn’t have the funding to send horses from Australia. For athletes such as Ginger, this means not competing with their usual partners but instead having to become acquainted with a new horse and lunger in a relatively short time frame. At Herning, Ginger was partnered with 19hh German-bred gelding Corazon Gran (by Corlensky G, who is a stallion by the famous grey show jumper Cornet Obolensky) and Dutch lunger Maurits de Vries.
“My involvement with Maurits began when I trained with him and competed in Belguim and Ermelo on his horse during April this year. He has previously lunged Corazon Gran and was kind enough to travel to Germany to lunge for my training sessions in preparation for the Worlds. My bond with ‘Crozzie’ began five weeks before Worlds, where I trained with him three times per week.
“I love being around Maurits; he has great skill and experience with horses and is honest and funny and always relaxed. We often share jokes and he would always be able to make me laugh just before I ran into the ring. One thing I will never forget is right before I ran into the ring in Herning he said to me that I need to sparkle, otherwise all the attention would be drawn to him! From then on, we become known as ‘Spiff and Sparkle’ because he always looks so spiffy and stylish when he lunges.”
Ginger says experience gleaned from her time preparing for and competing at the World Championships taught her to simply to do what is best for herself when it comes to elite competition. “I am someone who enjoys my own creative space and it has become clearer to me that it is imperative to stay in that zone. I have learnt to respect my own personal boundaries and needs in order to be the best that I can be. Competing at this major championship also helped me realise the standard that is required for this level of vaulting and how much improvement I have left in me to get to where I want to be.”
Since Herning, Ginger has returned home to Picton, NSW, where her family run Wellington Park Equestrian and her mother, Georgie, is her regular lunger. “It’s so good to be home! The rest of this year I plan to focus on our younger horses, especially my new horse whom I am very excited to start working and training with. I plan on supporting our Australian juniors and sharing my skills through coaching. I’d like to take the time to give back to the growth of the sport here in Australia.
Vaulting isn’t an Olympic sport, and as such Paris is not on the radar. However, the FEI Vaulting World Championships for Young Vaulters (18-21 years old) will take place in Flyinge, Sweden next year – and this event is on Ginger’s list of goals, alongside CHIO Aachen CVI3* and then the FEI World Championships (for seniors) in 2026.
Not just a vaulting enthusiast, Ginger also loves the sport of eventing and plans to compete in that discipline towards the end of the year and into the new year. “It has been heavenly to be back on my horse! Everything is in full swing here at home, and I am very excited see what the future holds for me and my horses.” EQ
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